Chapter 159 - Chapter 158: When in Doubt, for the Benefit of the Accused
The second month of Water, the fifth week, the day of Wind.
I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.
Once Mika falls asleep, he basically doesn't wake up until his charge is fully replenished.
Waking up in the middle of the night was such a rare occurrence that it felt like "how many years has it been?"
(...What time is it now?)
In this country, clocks are still expensive, and having even one in a household is considered lucky.
Mika's house has only one, placed in the dining room.
There were households that lived entirely by the sound of the time-telling bell.
(...?)
I noticed a little light leaking in through the crack in the door.
(Is Kistil or Nerisfeene awake?)
Those two wake up early in the morning.
They get up while Mika is sound asleep and prepare for the morning.
But if that were the case, there should be the sound of people moving.
(Then it must be Fee?)
My head finally cleared up a little, but I still felt a bit sleepy.
Just as I was turning over to take another nap, I noticed that.
(...Magic power is... moving...?)
The magic power inside Mika was moving on its own.
And, little by little, the magic power was decreasing.
This feeling is...
(Being sucked out?)
A sensation I have felt countless times with magic tools that suck out magic power.
At the Leventein Domain Magic Academy, we did nothing but that for a while, so I remember it well.
When [Divine Miracle] manifests, a huge amount of magic power is taken away, but this sensation is different.
The feeling of being taken away little by little even brings a sense of nostalgia.
(Why? Did I forget to set "Limiter On"?)
Even so, it is strange for magic power to move on its own.
Mika whispered "Limiter On" so quietly that no sound came out.
But even then, it continued to be sucked out unchanged.
It seems that "Limiter On" was already effective from the start.
(No way... Why won't it stop?)
With either a magic tool that sucks out magic power or [Divine Miracle], setting "Limiter On" allows you to resist having your magic power taken away.
But the current movement of magic power was sucking it away without caring about "Limiter On" at all.
(What is this!? What is going on!?)
Mika felt panic, but with his confused head, he tried desperately to think.
What exactly was happening?
But with a confused head, no proper thoughts should arise.
Mika blew away the sleepiness and sat up in bed.
Sitting up made the light coming in from the door even more noticeable.
Was the light source [Fee] moving? Shadows moved as it strengthened and weakened the light.
Mika had a bad feeling and, trying to hide his presence, carefully got down from the bed.
Moving without making a sound, he quietly went to the front of the door and opened it just a little.
Peeking through the crack, he checked the hallway.
Fee was floating around freely in the dining room.
But, it was more active than usual.
Repeating flashes, it jumped around cheerfully.
"Hey."
When Mika opened the door and called out, Fee flinched and briefly intensified its light.
And then, it dimmed weakly.
Trembling, shaking, and quivering.
――And then, the movement of magic power inside Mika stopped.
"It is undoubtedly a monster. There is no other option but the death penalty."
Mika pleaded while glaring at the bottle placed upside down on the table.
Inside the bottle, Fee, detained, trembled while flickering with a weak light.
On the opposite side of the table sat Kistil, puffing out her cheeks.
"Fee-chan is not a monster. It's so cute."
The defense side seemed to be using a strategy of appealing to emotion.
Nerisfeene sat at the birthday seat, silently listening to the arguments of Mika and Kistil.
Nerisfeene was the first to notice the commotion.
While sleeping in her room, she heard Mika's voice from the dining room and saw them making a ruckus.
"I'll defeat it!"
"Don't move around so much!"
Panicked by Mika's menacing voice, she ran to the dining room and saw Mika chasing after Fee.
Fee, noticing Nerisfeene, flew straight over.
Fee hid behind Nerisfeene, and Mika pressed forward.
"Nerisfeene. Hand over Fee [that one]."
Mika said with half-closed eyes.
"What is it, Mika-sama? Is Fee-sama in trouble?"
"I found out what Fee [that one] really is. As I thought, Fee [that one] was a monster."
"A monster? Fee-sama?"
Their expressions said they couldn't believe it.
Noticing Mika saying "Hand over Fee [that one]" and Nerisfeene saying "Please calm down," Kistil also woke up.
An emergency trial was held at Mika's house at a time when the night had not yet broken.
"It was sucking out magic power!? It's definitely a monster!"
Mika glared sharply at Fee.
"Answer honestly. For years, my magic power has never fully recovered. ...It was you, Fee [you], wasn't it?"
Mika asked, but Fee continued to tremble.
It seemed to intend to remain silent.
"A few years ago, I saw a light sphere very similar to Fee [this one] in an abandoned house. Wasn't that you, Fee [you]?"
Mika stood up from his chair.
It was finally heating up.
"I thought Fee [you] was just "something" that had possessed this house. But no. You weren't possessing this house! You were possessing me! Answer!"
Pointing a finger sharply at Fee.
At Mika's claim, Fee only trembled.
At that moment, Kistil suddenly raised her hand.
Prompted by Nerisfeene with her eyes, Kistil countered.
"...Do you have any evidence, Mika-kun?"
"Guh...!"
With just those words from Kistil, Mika suddenly felt suffocated.
"It's all speculation. It's leading. Fee-chan has no crime."
After hearing both sides, Nerisfeene closed her eyes and thought.
Mika and Kistil watched Nerisfeene, holding their breath.
And then――.
"Fee-sama has no crime. Not guilty."
"Yay!"
"Injustice!"
At Nerisfeene's verdict, Mika protested fiercely.
"I'm appealing! I'll fight thoroughly!"
"Appeal?"
Nerisfeene tilted her head.
There was no appeal court.
Besides, this country doesn't have a three-tier system.
Once a ruling is made, it is executed immediately.
Fee's innocence was confirmed.
While Mika knelt, crushed, Kistil and Nerisfeene held hands and celebrated.
I mean, aren't the lawyer and the judge in cahoots?
Fee slipped out from between the bottle and the table and shared the joy with the two.
It seemed it could have come out anytime it wanted.
The meaning of detaining Fee was nonexistent.
While the two and one? celebrated, only Mika hung his head.
And so, the long night dawned...
While wetting his pillow with the unjust verdict, Mika indulged in a second sleep.
The night had dawned, but it was still too early to get up.
Clatter... Clank...
Waking up to the sound of something moving, he opened his eyes slightly.
The tightly shut, dim room had become slightly brighter.
(...Fee...?)
It seems she came to wake me up as dutifully as usual.
I had asked Kistil and Nerisfeene to do so before taking my second nap...
(Those two are on Fee's side.)
They probably thought about reconciling Mika and Fee.
Thinking such things, a suspiciously glowing figure entered the corner of his vision.
(Huh!? "Wraith"!?)
Mika instinctively threw off the futon and jumped up.
"Limiter Off, Lighting Ball!"
Creating a light source to grasp the situation.
At the same time, he wrapped himself in magic power.
There, Mika's robe was floating wobbly...
Glancing sideways, he confirmed that a drawer in the dresser was slightly open.
Keeping his left hand raised in alert, he observed the movement.
Watching like that, the robe fell onto Mika's desk with a rustle.
Mika's shirt and pants were also on the desk.
All crumpled up.
And then, Fee appeared from the robe.
"........................."
How should this be interpreted?
Fee came in front of Mika, jumping up and down as if doing something, showing off a lot.
As if to say, "I prepared your clothes for you!"
Mika let out a long sigh.
"......Ah, you don't need to prepare clothes. It's important to wake up gradually with the light. So, focus on that instead."
When Mika said that, the jumping stopped, and it dimmed a little.
Seeing that, he felt somewhat like it was his fault.
"I'm entrusting you with the most important task of the morning. No matter what, I'd appreciate it if you focused on carrying that out."
He scratched his head, scratching and scratching.
"Well, today I'll wear what you prepared. Thank you."
When Mika said that, Fee briefly shone brightly and flew out through the crack in the door with a whoosh.
"Oh, Fee-sama. Welcome back."
"How was it, Fee-chan?"
Kistil and Nerisfeene spoke to Fee, who had returned to the dining room.
It seems it was indeed those two's doing.
(...By the way, can Fee [that one] possess objects?)
Objects moving on their own is not a typical Poltergeist phenomenon?
Until now, the arrangement of things in the room had moved, but I thought it was simply Kistil or Nerisfeene messing with them.
But some of those might have been the work of Fee [that one].
(Could the true identity of the "Wraith" actually be Fee [that one]?)
That was what Mika was thinking.
■■■■■■
[Capital City Istora, District 2]
With a light step accompanied by humming, the youth walked down the main street.
His reddish-brown hair fluttered, and he walked with a smile; everyone must have wondered if something good had happened.
"Oh my, oh my? Where was it?"
The youth looked around left and right.
Usually, if placed in a ruin, he would know immediately, but because he placed it in a completely unrelated place, he had lost track of where it was.
Ruins are rich in "Power".
Not only natural "Power", but ruins seem to create "Power" themselves.
So, if you follow the "Power", you can find it immediately.
Why do ruins create "Power"?
He didn't know the detailed reasoning.
That kind of thing, A-chan knows well.
It was also A-chan who taught Ru-chan how to use the "Power" coming out of the ruins.
And, in such places, "Artorum" can keep moving for decades, so usually, he sets "Artorum" in places where ruins exist.
But, the one he is setting now doesn't need to run for more than five years.
So, it seems he can move enough with just his own supply, without relying on the "Power" coming out of the ruins.
"We can't gather that much "Voluntas" anyway."
He heard from A-chan that Ru-chan said something about speeding up the plan, so he flew around the kingdom.
Well, he just went around the capital city and the second and third cities of the kingdom.
He went around those places setting "Artorum" to collect "Voluntas".
"If a war starts, I'll be super busy. Then, won't you help me, A-chan?"
Usually, "Voluntas" gathered over ten years or more would fill up in less than a year, and collecting and exchanging it alone would be difficult.
He wouldn't be able to go cake tasting anymore.
"I prefer the cakes of the Trade Federation [over there] rather than the Kingdom [here]."
The Kingdom's [here] food isn't bad, but delicious things are overwhelmingly found in the Trade Federation [over there].
Incidentally, the Empire and the Seven Kingdoms Federation don't have much delicious food.
Just a personal opinion.
"Oh. There it is."
Finding a familiar square, he walked straight toward the target.
Then, he went around the back of the pedestal of a statue of some unknown old man.
He reached his hand toward the boundary between the pedestal and the ground.
"Hmm? Is it usually like this?"
It wasn't gathering as much as he thought.
When he set it in a forest ruin, the distance was far, so he understood the poor gathering of "Voluntas", but even in the capital city, it wasn't gathering as much as he thought.
"Maybe it lacks stimulation?"
If exciting news flowed, would it gather all at once?
It seems Ru-chan said it would take several more years.
"Maybe it's okay to leave it a little further away?"
Maybe I should go to the Trade Federation to eat some delicious food.
"U-chan and Fu-chan seem to be doing something in the Kingdom [here], but I wasn't called?"
Even if I leave it a little further away, if necessary, U-chan and Fu-chan can do it for me?
"Alright, let's go."
For now, he had finished checking all the "Artorum" set in the capital city.
Next, he was heading to Sarbengeal, so once he checked there, he would head straight to the Trade Federation.
He turned back the way he came and took a break at a cake shop that smelled good.
"Hmm... 75 points. Too bad."
He finished eating pound cake and drank the tea dry.
It was delicious, but the taste was slightly off from his preference.
Shops in the capital city tend to be refined.
Every shop was organized in that general way.
Shops in the Trade Federation had a wide range of variation.
The hits were huge hits, and the misses were huge misses.
That's why delicious things are incredibly delicious.
Looking out blankly like that, he spotted a familiar figure.
"Oh, Te-chan."
Running energetically down the main street.
"You don't need change."
He left a slightly excessive amount of money so as not to lose sight of her and went outside.
"She's already gone that far. She's energetic."
He ran to chase after her so as not to lose sight of her.
Where was she going?
"Hmm?"
After running for a while, he noticed that the knights around were paying attention to him.
Were they circulating a wanted poster?
"Should I disguise myself next time?"
Well, that can wait for next time.
Right now, chasing Te-chan is more important.
"She seems to have potential."
If Te-chan became a "Son of God", it might become interesting.
But, if Ru-chan speeds up the plan, will it be too late?
"We'll deal with it when the time comes."
Running straight so as not to lose sight of Te-chan.
He was quite far back, but it seemed knights were chasing him.
"Te-chan, you're fast."
Just running so as not to be left behind, the distance between him and the knights was widening.
He might be using [Divine Miracle].
Chasing like that, she went off the main street.
"Did I get caught?"
The distance was over a hundred meters, so he didn't think he would be found like that.
But if he had [Detect Presence], he would be caught immediately.
He slowed down a bit upon entering the corner.
Far ahead, he saw her enter the grounds of someone's house.
Running straight on, he discovered Te-chan in the garden of a small house surrounded by trees.
She was chatting with two girls in the garden.
"Hmm? Te-chan's house?"
He didn't go past Te-chan's house, but turned casually and headed for the exit of the capital city.
"Bye-bye. Te-chan. See you next time."
While running through the capital city, he muttered that.